PBS promoted two staffers.
Rhonda Holt was promoted to SVP of information technology. She will report to CTO Mario Vecchi. Holt previously served as VP of software development and operations. Before joining PBS in 2016, she was principal and VP of engineering and operations for TrustedCare, a health technology company.
Scott Nourse was promoted to a newly expanded role as SVP of product and innovation. He will report to Ira Rubenstein, chief digital and marketing officer. Nourse previously served as VP of product development for PBS Digital. Before joining PBS in 2015, he was SVP of product operations at Sony Pictures Interactive.
Technology
Eli Cavazos was promoted to VP of technology at PBS Reno in Nevada. Cavazos joined the station in 2018 as an engineer. He has television and radio broadcast experience in several markets in California, according to a news release. Cavazos said in the release that he welcomes the challenge of working with new broadcast technologies like ATSC 3.0.
Content
Peter Jon Shuler retired from KQED in San Francisco last month. Shuler, a reporter for the radio station’s newscasts, joined the station full-time in 1990. He covered a wide range of topics over the years, including City Hall, earthquakes, housing, homelessness and Silicon Valley. As a student, Shuler began working in radio at WAUS-FM in Berrien Springs, Mich., a station owned by Andrews University. He has also done production work for WBAI in New York City. Shuler said in a news story that in his retirement, he plans to write, travel, get back into acting and do volunteer work.
Beth Ruyak, host of the morning show Insight on CapRadio, left her position at the station in Sacramento, Calif., this month. Ruyak, who joined CapRadio in 2012 to host Insight, started her career as a reporter more than 30 years ago in Minnesota. The Insight team will take this week off and return July 13 with Randol White as interim host. White is CapRadio’s afternoon anchor and reporter for All Things Considered.
Rick Jackson took over Monday through Thursday hosting duties for the Sound of Ideas at ideastream in Cleveland. Jackson replaces Mike McIntyre, who will move to Jackson’s spot as host of the Sound of Ideas Reporter’s Roundtable on Fridays. Jackson has been the primary fill-in host for Sound of Ideas in the past decade and has held several hosting duties on television and radio since joining the dual licensee in 2003. Before ideastream, Jackson hosted Village America on PBS and had experience as an anchor or reporter for several commercial stations and networks, including CBS News. McIntyre, who joined the organization in 2010, was promoted to executive editor last month. Jackson and McIntyre joked about the switch in a promotional video.
Communications
Karen Bordeleau was named director of communications for Arizona PBS and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. She joined the university’s faculty as a professor in 2018. Bordeleau has been an SVP and executive editor of the Providence Journal in Rhode Island. She was also a professor at the University of Rhode Island, Northeastern University and Emerson College. At Arizona PBS and the Cronkite School, she replaces Chris Fiscus, who was named assistant VP of media relations and strategic communications at Arizona State University.
Development
Vierka Kleinova left her position as director of development for WMFE in Orlando, Fla. Kleinova joined the organization in 2003.
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